Fixing stuff, once again: Bike and sink drain
Had to fix my bike and the sink in the bathroom today.
I used to just walk into a store and explain what I need in vague terms and wild pantomime to a guy until he went "Ah, yeah what you need is called Röhrensiphon, here's ten different models", proceeded to reveal their pros and cons and gave DIY mounting advice.
As opposed to that, trying to type "thing which connects sink to wall" into a hardware store's online search mask is a significant challenge for me. Hence my motivation to write down the correct technical terms. Since I also keep forgetting the measurements, here goes.
Bike tire measurements for my mountain bike: 26x1.75, i.e. 26" diameter by 1.75" width, which translates into ETRO 47x559, meaning 47mm width by 559mm diameter.
(Imperial and metric standard phrases switch up whether diameter or width come first. Ugh. At least it's all written on the tire itself.)
Don't forget to mount in the correct direction, it'll say ROTATION or DRIVE with an arrow symbol. Also don't lose track of any shims (ring washers) that might drop onto the floor during disassembly.
Sink drainage (Röhrensiphon): The important measurements are diameter in inch for the plunger connector(?) which plugs into the sink itself, and diameter in cm for the end which plugs into the wall (needs a different kind of large seal called Muffendichtung).
1.25" and 1.5" seem the only common measurements sold, but they're written as 1 1/2" and 1 1/4" respectively. Outlet diameter for bathroom sinks is either 30cm or 32cm, with 32cm the most common.
For the bathroom sink, I need 1 1/4" by 32cm. While you're at it, also swap out the gaskets (rubber seals) for new ones since rubber tends to get porous.
See also Nate Steiner's neat post on house maintenance - he's an XXIIVV webring participant as well.